The present invention relates generally to communication systems, and more particularly to a finder service in a communication system.
In current communication systems, a calling phone can dial directory assistance to receive the phone number of a particular home or business. The user then makes a note of the phone number, hangs up, and dials the phone number to be connected with the home or business. Callers to such directory assistance providers can alternately be directly connected to the home or business without having to remember the phone number, hang up, and then dial the remembered phone number.
One limitation of such directory assistance providers is that the caller has to know the name of the person or business in order to receive the telephone number associated with the home or business.
In certain computer-based applications, a user of the computer can enter a location and a category and receive a list of names, addresses, and phone numbers for businesses near that location that fall into the category specified. For example, a user could type in a city name for the location and a restaurant type for the category and receive a listing of all restaurants located in that city that are that type of restaurant.
However, there is currently no way to generate a list of destination names for a phone to choose from and be redirected to a chosen one of the list of directory names. Therefore, a need exists for a communication system that allows a user to obtain a list of destination names and be redirected to one member of the list of destination names without having to hang up and dial directly the chosen member of the list of destination names.
The present invention provides a method for redirecting a calling phone from a finder service to a destination phone. A communication system receives a request at the finder service from the calling phone. The request is a request to generate a set of destination names. The communication system determines if the calling phone is capable of processing IP data. If the calling phone is capable of processing IP data, the communication system sends a text-based menu interface to the calling phone. The text-based menu interface includes the set of destination names.
The calling phone can also send a menu response to the communication system. The menu response indicates one of the set of destination names. The communication system receives the menu response from the calling phone and redirects the calling phone to the destination name.